A Tamer's Tale

The next morning Elias sat up in his crib, his body felt unusually refreshed and a tad stronger.

He didn't have to wait long before Eliza swooped in to grab him for breakfast. She entered the main room and picked Elias right up then was quick to shake Gabe and Jule's bed, waking them for breakfast.

For breakfast, she fried slices of rodent and a couple of eggs. She set the table with their wooden utensils and plates, with the sliced meat, eggs, and a loaf of bread sitting at the center.

Once she was done she plopped Elias on her lap. "Honey! Breakfast is ready, get out here and eat." She announced.

Gabe and Jule had already sat at the table ready to consume the scrumptious food. Gabe was barely tall enough to reach his plate and Jule began gnawing on her fork attempting to stave off the hunger. They both practically vibrated, somehow full of energy.

A crash and a bang later, Jerimiah stumbled out of his room. His shirt was on backward, but still on nonetheless.

"Sit so we can eat."

Jerimiah found his seat "Thank you for the food honey."

The family dug in. Gabe quickly stood on his chair, his little hands grabbing at the largest piece of meat. Jule, being the instigator that she was, aimed for the same piece of meat. She snatched it from Gabe's grasp, sticking out her tongue.

"Hey! That was mine!" Gabe pouted, a frown adoring his chubby face.

"You were too slow, it's mine now!" Jule giggled in delight

"But I grabbed it first!"

"Nah ah"

"Yeah ha"

"No"

"Yes"

"No..."

Jerimiah watched on in amusement, his two oldest were always little troublemakers. Peeking over to his youngest he thought back to yesterday. Elias, detecting his gaze looked back, his mouth full of eggs Eliza spooned in for him.

"Papa" Elias spoke

"What is it, Rue?" Curious about his youngest child, he couldn't help but want to understand how brilliant his kid was.

"Whaat y-ou cho?" (What you do?)

"What do I do you ask?" Jerimiah paused, placing his pointer finger and thumb on his face, trying his best to create a scholarly impression. "Well little Rue, I'm a man of many talents. I am a farmer, a man who feeds kingdoms, without us farmers everybody would starve. I'm also a skilled hunter! Back in my day, I used to travel the lands slaying foes of great power, saving delicate princesses from dangerous warlocks. Once I even fought back a beast wave all by myself."

Eliza chuckled, her hand covering her mouth. "Dear, you always knew how to exaggerate your accomplishments."

"Shush now, my boy wants to hear how great his father is!" Jerimiah shot back, a playful smile gracing his lips. Eliza shook her head, he had already begun, and there was no way of stopping him now.

Jerimiah placed his hands in front of his chest and spread them out wide. "Picture this! A young man destined for greatness. He owned only the shirt on his back, and the pants gracing his powerful legs! This man, freshly awakened by the greatest mage in all the kingdom awoke not one, but TWO affinities!"

Gabe, now sucked into his father's story, jumped up and down on his seat. "Papa, Papa! What affinities did he get?"

"Only the greatest! He awoke Earth, the most versatile and defensive of affinities and the affinity of Beasts!"

"Woooow" Jule chimed in, her eyes round in amazement

"Whhaht c-an do?" Elias asked, curious about the possibilities of affinities. He had assumed magic was a thing after the grand awakening ceremony yesterday, but he didn't know how expansive it was.

"Well, this man, who just so happens to be your wonderful father can do many things. Because of my affinity with Earth, I can create constructs in my soul that allow me the ability to change the very world around me with magic!" He snapped his fingers and nearby a small pebble began to float towards him. Grabbing it he shaped it into a dog, giving it to Gabe who held the stone dog with fascination.

"No fair! I want one!" Jule pouted, jealousy obvious from her tone.

"Tu tu tu, complainers get nothing. Sit and eat your food, young lady!" Eliza lectured

"Hmph!" Jule turned her head away, and a scowl adorned her adolescent face.

"I'll make sure to make you one as well Jule darling, but only if you are nice to your brother!" Jerimiah said, making sure he did his fatherly duty. "That's not all, this genius can do more than just shape the very Earth around him!"

Jerimiah closed his eyes, and his body began to glow with a pale brown light before the very dog that pulled their cart during the first week of Elias's life appeared within the small home. Its muscular legs and jaws made it look intimidating up close.

But not even half a second after being summoned its demeanor changed. From alert, it turned to relaxed and goofy, its massive tongue flopping out and about, giving Jerimiah a big sloppy lick.

"Hahahaha, down Billy!" Jerimiah said, wiping the slobber off his face.

"I am a fabled Beast Tamer! I can summon Billy in the midst of battle to face off against my foes!"

Elias looked intrigued at his father, glancing over at the giant dog that was now sitting, its head swaying back and forth, its big floppy ears occasionally covering its large round eyes. Elias couldn't imagine such a funny-looking dog fighting anything extraordinary, but that didnt stop him from reaching out, attempting to pet the goofy goober. Sadly his attempt to pet Billy failed as his mother pulled him back and scooped up another spoonful of eggs shimmying them into his chubby cheeks. Nonetheless, his father continued.

"My Billy and I had been through everything together! We fought through a beast tide, barely surviving by the skin of our teeth. Billy here faced down fabled monsters of terrifying might, sabretooths, and dire wolves! Each succumbing to the same fate, their necks trapped beneath his fearsome jaws!" As Jeremiah spoke of his tale, Billy licked his big black nose, a few drops of slobber spraying Jule nearby.

"Ewwww" the little girl recoiled, Gabe laughed at her. Eliza grabbed a nearby cloth and wiped the saliva off Jules's face.

Elias still curious how his father could do all these things decided to take the direct route. "How?"

"Ohhh, do we have someone curious to uncover the secrets of the world? Well, let me tell you! It probably is about time Jule began to learn about Aether." He stood, grabbing a large stone he placed it on the table.

Jerimiah slowly shaped it into a small pond. "This is a Soul Ocean," Jerimiah spoke, his attention mainly on Jule now. The little girl though bratty at times now listened with rapt attention.

"We can use the water in our soul ocean to create shortcuts of Aether spells and environments where beasts sleep!" Jerimiah waved his hand, Billy was quick to disappear from his spot back into Jerimiah's soul ocean.

"Can I get a pet too?!" Jule asked, she couldn't help but want a cute creature she could summon and play with when she got bored of her little brother.

"Well, first you have to awaken. But once you do that you can create a home for your pet within your Soul Ocean using whatever affinities you have access to. Because I have an affinity of Earth, and because Billy shares a similar affinity he could more readily settle down in the space that I created for him."

"I wanna awaken!" Gabe shouted, but what he really wanted was to be included in the conversation.

"Well well well, you all will have the opportunity to in the future because of the gracious Count. It is almost unheard of for nobles to extend this chance to people like us."

"Yay!" Both Gabe and Jule shouted in happiness.

"But you will only awaken if you eat lots and grow strong! And most importantly if you listen to your mother." Jerimiah added on, a smug smile gracing his lips. Eliza chuckled, nodding her head.

"Now let's eat and grow strong!"

The family munched their meal, and Eliza was happy that at least for today her children would behave. After breakfast, Jerimiah left for the fields but he made sure to give everyone a kiss on the forehead before leaving.

After Jerimiah left, the kids ran off to play with the other children. Now alone, Eliza lifted Elias and placed him on the ground. "Don't go too far sweety," she said before she took out her sewing materials, patching a blanket for their new neighbors.

Elias glanced around before he headed for a nearby corner. Plopping his cubby body against the wall he entered his Soul Ocean. 'Jerimiah talked about environments but also mentioned needing affinities to make one for a proper creature. I wonder if I can make an environment, or a soul construct without one.'

Elias immediately got to work, he willed the water within his Soul Ocean lifting it in front of his projected consciousness. He concentrated, his eyes squinted focusing hard on the water in front of him.

Drops of water began to separate from his Soul Ocean, forming into a sphere. Its surface was rough, water steadily dripping from the bottom but a sphere nonetheless. With a breath of relief, the ball of water broke apart, dissipating into his surroundings.

'Well, that was much harder than I expected. I guess forming anything with this water will take a lot more effort and practice.'

Picking up another but smaller quantity of water, Elias began forming it into a sphere once more. This time because he didn't have to control as much, the sphere's surface was much smoother. Feeling confident he decided to see if he could shrink it. Squinting once more, dedicating his whole focus to the ball of water, it shrunk a single centimeter. Exhausted, he released the sphere just as he did the first, but this time the ball didn't dissipate into the surroundings, rather it flowed back into his soul ocean.

Curious, Elias approached the small pond. He raised his eyebrows, poking the pond, a single ripple danced on its surface.

'Did the pond's energy increase?'

Elias sat cross-legged on the edge of the pond. He repeated what he did last, a ball of water formed at arm's length from his projected body. Focusing with all his might he shrunk the ball down a centimeter more than the previous time.

As he released his concentration from the shimmering ball, it lost all its cohesion, flowing back into Elias's soul ocean. Watching closely, a small but noticeable difference showed itself. The energy that was radiating from his soul ocean increased.

'I guess I know what I will be doing at night now.' Elias chuckled to himself, but he still didn't know how to make either of the things he came here. Elias pondered over the few things he learned about Soul Constructs. Though it was very little, what he did learn was what Jerimiah said "shortcuts to Aether spells" and the name, Soul Constructs. From those two pieces of information, he assumed that he would have to create a permanent fixture within his soul ocean, that when used, which he guessed was magic, would cast a predetermined construct or spell.

'Soul Environments must be similar.' Elias concluded. He thought back to his experiments with his soul ocean water. The water followed his conscious direction, forming into a ball just as he imagined, but after he stopped thinking about the shape of the sphere it would collapse. There was no permanence.

'Maybe affinities hold soul constructs and environments together?' The more he thought of this, the more he was sure. A fireball soul construct wouldn't be a fireball without the fire affinity. Affinities should be able to give Aether tangible properties, but there could be something else entirely in play that evaded his mind.

Just as Elias was going to begin another experiment something gently shook his body. He was quick to direct his attention outside his Soul Ocean. Opening his round violet eyes, he stared into a similar violet. Eliza carefully picked Elias up, a look of worry etched on her tan face. "Rue, are you okay? Does anything hurt? You just sat in the corner for an hour." She examined his body for any signs of damage or injury.

Elias flailing around in Eliza's hands tried to motion for her to stop "Mee O- kppay". Eliza held Elias close to her chest and looked down at him, doubt joined a frown on her face. "Okay, I guess I just feel like holding you now."

Grabbing her chair, Eliza sat back down plopping Elias on her lap. He looked up at the worried mother above him. She would occasionally give him glances, checking to see if he was okay. 'Mother's will be mother's.' Elias thought. Resigned to his fate he understood what she might be feeling. If he had a baby, and at 6 months it began speaking clearly, sitting in corners for hours on end he would be more than just concerned.

Elias reached down and grabbed the hem of Eliza's shirt. Her face noticeably calmed down as she felt Elias's grasp. Surrendering Elias decided to look around the largest of the two rooms of their home. A single bed sat in the corner where Gabe and Jule slept. His new family was not fortunate enough to have the budget to buy another bed. His crib was not far from his sibling's bed.

A simple kitchen graced the other side of the beds, simple bronze pots and pans neatly stacked on a wooden counter. Besides the large wooden table in the center where they sat and two doors, there was one last item that he had been curious about for a long while. A bookcase, only 3 books gracing its shelves.

He had tried to read about a month ago, dragging one of the books to the ground for easier reach but as he flipped from page to page he understood nothing. He had guessed that would have been the case, but he was hopeful some special magic would activate. Nothing.

So he waited, and now he contemplated if he should ask his mother. Granted he just began speaking. If he tried reading merely a day later they would definitely get suspicious. He didn't want to be labeled as a demon, crucified by whatever holy church that rules the lands.

Shuttering he decided to bide his time. Reading can wait if it means not being burnt to death.

Bored Elias decided to focus on Eliza. She was fixing an old blanket for a neighbor. Never having learned to sew in his previous life he watched with interest as Eliza's hands glided across the fabric, the needle precisely weaving in and out of the patch that she picked. Elias observed the pattern she followed, noting it in his mind. He thought it could come to be useful in the future.

Eliza continued sewing for two more hours before she stopped. "You wanna go outside with me Rue?" She questioned a satisfied smile gracing her lips.

"Yesshh"